Big and Little... the beach

Did you see A Mom with a Lesson Plan's awesome BIG pretend play beach? If you didn't go now, go now.... and then come back and read all about our LITTLE beach. If you want to know more about BIG and LITTLE you can read all about it here.

I did this a little differently from my normal little world set-ups. Usually, I involve the kids in the 'making' of the little world. This time I set up our little beach on my own. I poured sand into a tub leaving a ditch (which I lined with pebbles and rocks) for the 'sea water'. To aid drainage I propped the sandy end of the tub up on a block of wood. I collected some people figurines, scrap material for towels, little bottle lids and paddle pop sticks for buckets and spades, shells, paper umbrellas and a plastic shark. I also cut out some fish and a floatie from a sponge.

With and without water: I added the blue water just before Boo started playing, it drains through the sand.

Her first love was the mini bucket and spade

While Cakey was at preschool I gave Boo the mini beach to play with. She dunked all the people, played with the mini bucket of sand, ripped the umbrellas to shreds, made sand castles and added more and more water. She happily played with this little beach for over an hour – draining water out and then adding water back in. After play, I drained out the water and placed all the beachy bits and pieces in a basket.

Sand castle and people going for a swim

Adding more and more water and playing in the sand

On the following day while Boo was napping I gave the tub of sand to Cakey along with the basket of beach accessories. She set up the beach herself and then I gave her a jug of blue water. She poured in the 'sea water' and played with her little beach independently.

Cakey made her little beach independently

This little world play could not have gone better – Boo got thoroughly involved in the sensory play aspect and Cakey used her imagination to create her own world.

If this is your first visit to at home with Ali – welcome. If you like it, you can follow along through our facebook page or subscribe via email or RSS. Cheers Ali



Linked to It's Playtime, The Sunday Showcase, Summer Sensory Fun, TGIF